AN1 Hey! Apologies for the break! Long Covid (I'm still fighting it), an addiction to a Game of Thrones game, a heavy touch of writer's block for the opening scene, and confidence issues with my writing caused the delay. I will try to fire out some rapid updates in the coming weeks.

AN2 There will be some swearing during the heat of battle in this chapter.


The Spy and the Soldier

Chapter Seven, The Soldier vs the Intersect: Part Three


It was the middle of August, in the summer of 2007, as a peaceful quietude transcended throughout Kunar Province, Afghanistan.

This particular summer had been frighteningly hot for both the residents and the occupiers of this region of the world, with temperatures soaring as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Kunar Province. What's more, Afghanistan, by and large, was a relatively dry country, with barely any rainfall during the summer months, except for an offshoot of the monsoon affecting Pakistan and India creeping its way into the eastern parts of the country through July and August.

Aside from its attractive but dangerous temperatures, also came alluringly pleasing sites of its natural, scenic landscapes. Afghanistan, for the most part, was a tremendously beautiful country. With that considered, a stranger new to this particular part of planet Earth would be completely forgiven for assuming that this area, with its sweeping valleys and its breathtaking mountainous sights, could ever be filled with the sights and sounds of horror which could only originate from two civilizations at war with each other.

The locals, however, knew better. The province, notorious for swathes of violent insurgent attacks against primarily U.S. coalition forces, was one of the most dangerous provinces to be based at for an ISAF soldier. Together with Helmand Province—which was located to the southeast in the barrens of Afghanistan—Kunar Province was responsible for most of the Taliban insurgency attacks in the country.

Sadly, however, the peaceful summer's night, like so many nights before it, would not last, for a battle was about to commence.

Combat Outpost McNeil

Kunar Province

Afghanistan

Under the cover of darkness—although with clear sight, as in Afghanistan, the night was more clear than the day—a determined force of two hundred plus insurgents silently with complete noise discipline crept their way undetected into attack positions completely surrounding an ISAF outpost. This particular base, picked out and selected for an insurgent attack by Taliban units this evening, had been hastily assembled during the summer of 2006 by a U.S. brigade combat team that the occupying forces had assigned to operate in the district. The base, named after a fallen soldier in the Afghanistan War, was situated at a critical juncture where heavy insurgent and smuggling activity was rampant and widely observed. Therefore, the commanders of the region had ordered the construction of the base as quickly as possible to disrupt the large-scale movement of the enemy. The brigade combat team had constructed the COP at the bottom of a valley, which conceded the high ground. Nevertheless, it was necessary because it was the only place deemed viable by the occupying force due to the remoteness and lack of habitable land in the area.

The base defenses were standard military constructions of the modern era and of this particular region. The outer perimeter consisted primarily of HESCO barriers, with terrain also affording a natural blockade where applicable. In addition to the barriers, shipping containers had been strategically placed throughout the COP to act as a blockade and provide the defenders with some cover from certain mountains that encompassed the outpost. Unique to this specific COP, however, was the addition of reinforced stone buildings. The site of this outpost was a former district center for the region, so such structures already being in place provided the engineers with constructions that were not afforded to many other Combat Outposts hastily assembled throughout the country. Making full use of the stone buildings, the brigade combat team focused on three buildings in particular. Firstly, they reinforced one of the stone constructions at the base's main gate with sandbags and further HESCO barriers surrounding the outer stone walls. Once completed, this particular structure served as the main operations center for the outpost. In addition to the operations center, the engineers also made use of another stone building to construct a makeshift aid station for the outpost. It was neither the USNS Mercy nor an extraordinary military construction, but it served its purpose for the garrison's needs, and that's all that mattered. Finally, and in the center of the COP, was the district center. This stone construction was the largest, and it was the only building at the outpost that had more than one floor. It was no surprise that the combat engineers sought to heavily fortify this location more than any other. If the shit was to hit the fan, the primary defense of the base would originate from, and it would largely fall on the occupiers of this particular building working in conjunction with the operations center to repulse a large-scale attack.

In recent weeks, Combat Outpost McNeil had come under frequent attack due to the insurgents and smugglers alike determined to drive the coalition forces out of the base to open up their movement route once more. Tonight's attack, however, was a direct response issued by the Taliban chain of command in the region in response to a raid several days ago by Coalition forces that had killed several Taliban militants and stirred up the hornet's nest.

One particular soldier, Captain Chuck Bartowski, the officer in command of said raid, was sleeping soundly in his quarters after a long day of soldiering and a patrol of the area. The young Captain had been in Kunar Province for several weeks on counter-insurgency operations while closely embedded with French Paratroopers.

But unfortunately for the young American officer, his present comfort and respite were suddenly about to change on the grandest of scales…

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was disturbed awake by a sudden massive eruption of gunfire in every direction surrounding his makeshift quarters, which was nothing more than a tent. As was the custom in this part of the world, especially in a province such as Kunar, most soldiers slept in their uniforms. Like almost everyone else, Chuck was no exception to this, and he was instantly on his feet, throwing a French-language book that he had on his person in the process. Chuck made the briefest of actions to rub the sleep from his eyes before he lunged towards where he had placed his body armor, gear, and rifle.

Fixing his apparel to his person, he rose as heavy gunfire continued to snap through the air and echo all around him. The Taliban were here to play, and it was beyond clear that Chuck and the rest of the Coalition forces at this outpost had been caught off-guard.

Not panicking, as elite soldiers never panicked, Chuck calmly departed his tent. He'd been in this situation before; many of them had.

Arriving outside, Chuck immediately sunk to a crouched position, and he observed the situation in search of a target to fire at and assess the engagement taking place.

Glancing to his left and then to his right, Chuck observed chaos as American and French forces—the two nations posted at the COP—scrambled for cover wherever they could find it.

If there was one thing the Taliban did well, it was setting up an ambush.

The present position that Chuck was in was exposed with almost no cover. His first priority was for him to find a place of shelter, just like every soldier around him was doing. Once successfully in a reasonable position of cover, he could then begin to figure out the strength and scale of the attack on his hands. By the sheer volume of gunfire and the ferocity of it, he already knew it was big and that he now found himself in a battle against a determined opponent who had gotten the element of surprise on Chuck and his comrades.

Glancing around once more, Chuck set his eyes on a soldier he recognized, Capitaine Matthieu Dubois. The French Captain was crouched behind a shipping container twenty meters away from Chuck's position.

Deciding he needed to find some immediate information from the first person he could, Chuck bellowed out, "Matthieu!"

The French Captain took a brief moment ascertaining Chuck's position before he finally fixed on his position. "Oui?!"

"Où sont-ils?!" Where are they?

"Des montagnes de tous côtés! 360 degrés!" Mountains on all sides! 360 degrees!

Chuck paused to glance around him, but he had no view of anything due to the remoteness of his sleeping area, which was at the rear end of the base a few hundred yards from the main entrance.

"Combien y en a-t-il?!" How many are there?

"Putain sait!" Fuck knows!

The French Captain broke from cover, and he fired a brief burst towards a position before he quickly returned into safety.

Having obtained some information about the situation, Chuck decided to head to Matthieu's position behind the shipping container. It would involve a 20-yard sprint, but it was the only position of cover close enough to him.

"Cover me!" Chuck shouted to the French officer.

Matthieu nodded, and Chuck took that as his cue to begin his sprint. Raising himself to stand, Chuck immediately started to dash as Matthieu broke cover, and he volleyed off a burst from his rifle to provide cover for Chuck to make his way to him.

Chuck had covered half of the distance when small arms fire started to snap and whiz past him, and a salvo of rounds connected onto the dirt close to his feet as a Taliban fighter attempted to zero themselves in on Chuck's position and to gun him down.

Arriving at Matthieu's position a short moment later, Chuck quickly positioned himself on Matthieu's shoulder, and he rested against the metallic container.

Now in relatively safe cover, Chuck took a quick moment to get his breath back from the sprint. Chuck's body temperature was already sky-high due to the atmospheric conditions. And with the sheer physical effort that would now be required to repel this attack, the strain and the fatigue on his body would be immense, and his condition would undoubtedly deteriorate much further still.

Having gotten his breath back, Chuck turned to his right, and he moved into a position to prepare to peak out from the end of the container. Matthieu voluntarily stepped back from the edge to allow Chuck to do so, and Chuck took up the former position of the Frenchman.

Inhaling a breath of air in preparation for what he was about to do, Chuck crouched himself to make himself as small of a target as possible, and he peaked himself around the edge of the container as his pupils started to scan rapidly towards the mountains to assess the situation he was faced with.

It had been a few seconds, and Chuck was still observing what was in front of him when a round ricocheted off the shipping container, which was enough to quickly send Chuck back into cover.

"Screw that," Chuck declared laughingly, glancing left at Matthieu.

The French Captain nodded with a suppressed chuckle.

Breaking cover once more, Chuck indiscriminately discharged his weapon for a short second burst into the mountains before he quickly returned to cover.

Now inside safety, Chuck arched himself slightly to his left to focus his glance onto the heavily fortified district center around 100 yards away.

Glancing at the French officer, Chuck asked, "Êtes-vous en communication?" Are you on communications?

"Oui," Matthieu nodded.

"Amenez vos gars au centre du district! Nous les retirerons de là!" Bring your guys to the district center! We'll fortify from there!

Matthieu nodded once more before he made himself busy, and he got on his radio.

Meanwhile, Chuck had already begun to assess his next move, which would involve a long 100-yard dash to the district center, which was no easy feat. Due to the atmospheric conditions and his gear weight, Chuck needed to be in the prime condition of his life to make such a sprint. All of the years Chuck had spent endurance training had prepared him for this, but still, it would not be an easy task.

A few seconds passed, as Chuck continued to set and psych himself up for the forthcoming dash when he observed his Second in Command, Sergeant Major Bob Eastwood, performing a sprint of his own towards a shipping container around 40 yards from Chuck's position.

Chuck waited for the senior NCO to arrive at his position before calling out to him. "Bob!"

Having had no answer from the NCO, in part due to the distance between them, and also because of the sheer volume of sound created by the rapid gunfire and explosions occurring throughout the whole COP, Chuck knew he needed a much louder tone to successfully get his soldier's attention. "BOB!"

That did the trick, as his senior NCO successfully ascertained Chuck's position. "BOSS?" the NCO bellowed back at him.

At the same time as giving the hand signal to advance to the district center, Chuck supported the action by barking out, "GET THEM TO THE DC!"

The Sgt Major nodded and got straight to work on the task expected of him.

With no time to dawdle in the battle, Chuck prepared a brief goodbye to the French Captain.

"Good luck, Matthieu," Chuck said while extending his arm to offer a handshake—for who knew whether it would be the last chance they had.

"And the same to you. Godspeed," Matthieu said as he moved to shake Chuck's hand.

"Your English is improving," Chuck declared with a grin.

"Et votre français aussi, mon ami." And your French too, my friend.

Chuck nodded with a grin, and he afforded his counterpart in rank a final glance before he turned to his left, and he proceeded towards the edge of the container in preparation of his dash.

Now at the edge, Chuck counted to five while taking in air. At the conclusion of the countdown, he called out, "Moving!" which caused a French soldier positioned at the edge of the shipping container to expose himself from cover. The French soldier discharged a rapid burst from his light machine gun to provide Chuck with brief support as he started his dash as quickly as his legs could possibly carry him...

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck arrived at the entrance to the district center, which was under massive small arms fire. Gasping, he completed the final exhausting steps, and he entered inside.

Moving to a stone wall, he collapsed against it, and he sunk into a prone position as he continued to wheeze for air. Almost halfway through the dash, Chuck had nearly tripped, but fortunately for him, he had retained his balance, though he was now knackered.

Making a 100-yard dash as quickly as you possibly could was challenging enough for your body, but then add to that the grueling heat, while wearing and carrying gear weighing tens of kilograms, in addition to gunfire and explosions throughout meant those 100 yards that Chuck had just run, had been the most challenging 100 yards he had ever run in his life, his present physical condition only served as testament to that.

Grabbing a water bottle from his pack, he took a long gulp from it, and he threw the rest of the contents over his face.

His quadriceps right now were killing him, but there was no time for thoughts like that, for he had a battle to fight.

Glancing at the doorway of the district center, a small group of soldiers were placed at the entrance. Chuck made eye contact with one of the French soldiers, and the soldier smirked down at him.

Chuck merely shook his head, and he breathed out an enormous sigh, which caused the soldier to nod, as he'd made the same dash Chuck had just minutes previously himself.

Rising to stand, Chuck concluded his brief recovery, and his focus once more became razor-sharp on the task in hand as he finally set up his radio and headset, and he joined the frequency of his team.

"Sit rep?" Chuck inquired into his two-way piece.

Morgan immediately came on the air, "One-hundred plus insurgents with a 360 degrees angle of attack. It appears that our raid a few days ago stirred up the hornet's nest."

Chuck felt relieved to hear Morgan's voice and that his best friend was safe and sound.

"Is the Major on comms yet?" Chuck asked.

"Negative, sir," Sergeant Major Eastwood replied.

"Copy that. I'll take command until he's able. Does anyone have a fix on his location?"

Coming on air, a Delta Force operator declared, "I pinged him near to a trench close to the operations center."

"Copy that. Is anyone down?" Chuck asked as he remained close to the entrance as more soldiers continued to flood into the objective while two soldiers at the doorway would occasionally peek outside to return fire.

"Negative," came the reply, and Chuck breathed out an immediate sigh of relief.

"If able, make your way to the district center. We'll need shooters on the rooftop," Chuck instructed.

"I'm already up here, and I've posted some of the guys as spotters. The enemy has already knocked out the mortar pit with large RPG fire, and I want a fix on those RPG teams in addition to their large gun and mortar teams," Morgan declared.

"I know. Those rockets fizzed past me when I made the dash to the DC. I'll join you on the rooftop shortly," Chuck declared.

"Copy that," Morgan replied.

With the discussion now at an end, Chuck pondered his thoughts. During his dash to the district center, Chuck observed as the COP's mortar pit took several RPG rounds, which immediately knocked out of action the only firepower in the defenders' arsenal. With this in mind, Chuck knew that they now had to rely solely on ordnance being delivered by gun teams almost 20 kilometers away and from fast air support.

And to no surprise, Chuck could already hear and see two French officers in heated discussions while another French soldier was on his radio requesting fire support.

Chuck opted to leave the French to it, and he begun to make his way up the staircase to the rooftop. Arriving at the entrance to the roof a short moment later, he took a brief moment to prepare himself before he departed out into the open air, and Chuck sprinted to a corner of the roof to take cover behind a wall of sandbags.

Now in the best possible position to take part in the battle, Chuck turned himself to face the back of him and to allow him to ascertain which members of his troop were on the rooftop with him.

In one section, Morgan was positioned behind a wall of sandbags just like him. In addition to Morgan, Chuck spotted ten other members of his unit located around the rooftop.

"Morgan!" Chuck called out suddenly, deciding he wanted his best friend at his position so they could coordinate something together.

Morgan quickly located the position of Chuck, and just like Chuck, he made his way in a dash with his back arched until he arrived at Chuck's location, and he sunk into cover next to him. Chuck quickly shifted himself slightly to face Morgan.

"Enjoying yourself?" Chuck asked.

Morgan nodded with a chuckle.

"I thought so," Chuck declared. "I could see the look in your eye."

"What can I say, Chuck? There's no more unique of a feeling than when you're being shot at," Morgan replied with a chuckle.

Grinning, Chuck said, "I'd prefer to be shot at while in an armored vehicle."

Morgan continued his chuckle. "Pfft, you wussy. You were complaining of no action a few weeks ago, and now you have it, you're complaining again," he declared, shaking his head.

"Morgan, every soldier loves a battle, but we're heavily outnumbered. I'd much sooner have had a pleasant evening of learning French than have to fight this battle right now," he declared with a grin before he turned slightly and raised himself from cover for a brief moment to fire at where muzzle fire had originated from in one of the mountains overlooking the COP, and Morgan did the same.

Returning to their position of cover once more, Morgan shook his head. "Don't lie to me! When I popped past your tent about an hour ago, you were lights out and sleeping like a log. Besides, if you didn't want them unleashing hell on us, you shouldn't have executed that raid a few days ago," he joked with a grin.

Chuck suppressed a laugh. "I must have dozed off. But I must correct you, Morgan: it was not me who carried it out. It was us who executed it," he declared.

Morgan chuckled as the two officers and best friends once more broke cover for a brief moment and repeated the earlier actions.

"But I'm not the one complaining," Morgan declared as he fired a final burst from where he stood before he crouched back into cover.

"Touche!" Chuck replied as he followed Morgan back into cover. His best friend did have a point.

The officers paused without conversation for a few moments as they started to further assess the situation when a distinct sound familiar to everybody on the rooftop started to whiz through the air.

"105!" a soldier on the rooftop called out as a 105mm artillery projectile traversed its way through the air before connecting onto its target, and it exploded.

Chuck and Morgan immediately exposed themselves from cover to assess the impact of the artillery, which had impacted towards a mountain close to the main gate of the COP. The French forces must have singled out the main entrance to the base as the primary focus of support, which was a tactically clever decision. If the Taliban wanted to penetrate the inner perimeter of the outpost, they'd have to go through there to breach the COP.

"Splash, over!" a French soldier on the rooftop said into his radio piece, indicating that the artillery shell had impacted.

A minute passed with the situation unchanged as the soldiers on the rooftop exchanged immense fire with the Taliban when everybody on the rooftop suddenly heard the distinct sound of ordnance thundering through the air once more, and three large explosions soon followed near to the former sighting ordnance just a minute ago.

Chuck and Morgan broke cover once more, and they assessed the situation towards the main entrance of the COP where the artillery had just impacted.

Returning to cover, Chuck observed the Sgt. Major arrive at the entrance to the roof.

The NCO quickly ascertained Chuck and Morgan's position on the rooftop.

"Coming to you!" Sergeant Major Eastwood declared, glancing at Chuck.

Chuck nodded at his senior NCO before he turned along with Morgan, and they exposed themselves from cover to rattle off a burst of gunfire at any target they could find, which was easy, as sustained gunfire was emerging from more than a dozen locations in the two officers sights.

Sergeant Major Eastwood quickly arrived at Chuck and Morgan's location, and he was accompanied by Capitaine Matthieu Dubois and another member of Delta Force. The three soldiers moved to take up positions of cover behind the sandbags just like Chuck and Morgan, and Chuck shifted himself to nod at all three of his comrades.

However, they were unable to take a moment of pause as shells began to traverse through the air once more, only this time, they weren't of a friendly origin. An explosion quickly followed no more than 30 yards from the district center, which almost seemed to shake the roof of the building.

"It seems our fire support woke up their own mortar teams!" Chuck declared, wincing at the revelation as he glanced around the group of soldiers on the rooftop.

"I wondered when they'd get in on the action," Morgan said.

Chuck turned his glance towards Morgan briefly before he locked his gaze onto his senior NCO. "We need to find them and take them out before they zero in on us. Bob, get on it!" Chuck commanded.

"Sir," Bob said with a nod before he immediately left the position, and he relocated himself towards a group of Delta Force operators who were prone and buddied up together—with two of the soldiers being the primary marksmen of the elite outfit.

x-x-x-x-x-x

A few minutes had passed, and the situation was unchanged as Coalition forces and the Taliban insurgents continued to exchange intense fire with one another in a battle for supremacy and a fight of resolve and determination to survive and defeat their opponent.

Chuck, meanwhile, was still positioned at the spot he'd selected when he had first arrived on the rooftop. However, he had successfully restored communications with the operations center and Major Moore in the past few minutes. With communications finally set up, they had wasted no time as Chuck and Major Moore coordinated fast airpower with an immediate focus of eliminating the mortar teams that surrounded their positions.

"A-10's inbound," Major Moore declared into comms.

Chuck and every Delta Force operator on the roof instantly relaxed a little. For a soldier surrounded and in a fierce battle to survive, no greater plane could come to the rescue than the A-10 Thunderbolt. The close air support aircraft was as idolized by the pilots and crew who flew and maintained it as it was by troops it supported on the ground. Throughout the military, there was a saying that the A-10 was an aircraft attached to a gun rather than a gun attached to a plane. For Chuck, who had been supported by the warplane many times on previous operations, that saying very much checked out. Armed primarily with a 30mm Gatling gun, the autocannon was one of the most powerful aircraft cannons ever flown. Its main rounds consisted of large depleted uranium armor-piercing shells that were adequately capable of devastating any target it encountered on the modern battlefield, no matter how armored the target was.

"Warthogs inbound!" Chuck declared to the soldiers on the rooftop, and he observed as, just like him, the soldiers relaxed ever so slightly, and their spirits lifted.

Unable to stop himself, Chuck looked into the sky. Sure enough, he soon caught a glimpse of the two aircraft approaching in formation, and for the insurgents now in the crosshairs of the warplanes, that was all she wrote.

The air was quickly ruptured by the sound of the Gatling gun rounds connecting onto a Taliban mortar position that Chuck's Special Ops team had managed to get a fix on, which caused the ground all around the COP to shake. Soon after the impacts came a sound so distinct and reassuring for the friendly forces. While at the same time, it was a sound so feared by the enemy, as the air suddenly started to buzz with a brief burst, which was the aftermath of the Gatling guns from the A-10's having fired at such a rapid speed just a few moments earlier.

Chuck instantly rose himself to survey the battlefield, as a plume of smoke in the wake of the A-10's strafing run had begun to fill the air at the site of the attack, and the engines of the A-10's soon roared on over the COP. There would be no survivors at that location, and Chuck quickly returned to cover.

"Widow One-One, a perfect strafe. Dead on center," Chuck declared into comms.

"Copy that, Bravo One-Two. Will remain in AO to provide further assistance," the A-10 pilot replied to Chuck.

"Copy that, out," Chuck replied.

With the A-10 strafing run at an end for the moment, Chuck turned his attention toward Morgan, who was still crouched next to him.

"Morgan, we need a fix on their remaining mortar teams. We're still taking fire," Chuck declared.

Morgan nodded. "10-4 on that, Chuck. I'll get everyone on it."

Chuck broke cover once more, and he trained his eyes surrounding the COP in search of a target to fire at while also attempting to locate additional insurgent positions. Quickly pinpointing the position of where muzzle fire had originated from, Chuck fired off a burst from his rifle towards the location. And as he did so, he felt an explosion to his right towards the main entrance and the operations center, which was situated close to the gate.

Chuck instantly broke from firing upon the Taliban position, and he shifted himself to his right to investigate the explosion, and Chuck's gut sunk at the sight in front of his eyes. The operations center had taken a direct hit from the mortar fire.

Crouching back down into cover, Chuck exclaimed, "Fuck!"

Multiple soldiers in Chuck's immediate presence paused their actions to glance at Chuck, and Morgan inquired, "What's up, buddy?"

"Op center took a direct hit," Chuck declared with a somber gaze toward his best friend.

Morgan, Matthieu, and a few other soldiers in Chuck's immediate presence who overheard Chuck's report instantly rose to obtain a look at the operations center.

"Merde!" Matthieu declared, arriving back into cover, and Morgan nodded.

"Sit rep, Major?" Chuck asked his commanding officer suddenly on comms, who was situated at the very same location that had just taken a direct impact.

"We took a direct hit. Multiple casualties," came the reply.

Chuck could only shake his head at the distressing news, and the mood up on the roof of the district center became a despondent one as word of the development started to spread.

x-x-x-x-x-x

It had been a few minutes since the direct impact of the mortar strike onto the operations center, and the news that had been relayed from out of it in the immediate aftermath had not been pleasant listening for the soldiers positioned elsewhere in the COP. As a result of the direct impact, there had been multiple fatalities, in addition to several casualties with wide-ranging injuries from the blast.

Chuck had now repositioned himself to obtain a better view towards the operation center, in addition to the main gate, which was now coming under increasing fire. Reports had also come through the net that the Taliban were advancing on the location when suddenly, Chuck, along with Matthieu, who had also repositioned with him, observed as a suspicious-looking Afghan National Policeman entered the operations center.

And what immediately followed, was a drastic and distressing turn of events on the grandest of scales, as an explosion ripped through the location in the general area from where the Afghan national had just entered.

"What the fuck was that?!" A Delta Force operator questioned as a portion of the rooftop surveyed the operations center.

"Merde! Putain! Les transfuges!" Shit! Whore! Turncoats! Matthieu exclaimed, which caused almost everyone on the rooftop to glance at the French Captain due to the implications of his words.

Chuck had now entered into a state of shock due to what he had seen with his own eyes. What he had just seen is something that any soldier would never hope to see. His French counterpart was quite correct, as Chuck's assessment was identical to that of the Frenchman.

Unfortunately for the defenders of the COP, it was now yet another thing they had to contend with. Chuck wasted no time informing everyone of the development, for who knew how many other ANP members had similar ideas to what that person had just done. There were unquestionably enough of them at the base, as it was due to be handed over to their control eventually, and from Chuck's experience, turncoats never acted alone.

"Guys, watch your backs! An ANP has just blown himself up in the op center! Watch them like hawks, and if you see any of them behaving jittery, then either subdue them or neutralize them! I'm not taking any chances, and I'll have it fall on my head at a later point in time!" Chuck declared into comms.

"Sit rep, Major?" Morgan immediately asked.

No response came from their Commanding Officer.

"Pat?" Chuck then called out, but like Morgan, he too received no response.

"Fuck!" a Delta Force operator exclaimed.

Chuck crouched back into cover, and as he did so, Morgan sprinted to his location and took up a position next to him.

"What do we do, Chuck?" Morgan asked with concern.

Chuck took an extended moment as he ran a hand through his hair, deep in thought. "We need to get eyes in the op center to assess the damage and figure it out from there. These fuckers aren't relenting. Usually, they'd be long gone and safely tucked under in bed again by now!" Chuck said with a frustrated shake of his head.

"The op center is too far away. We can't get to it from here," Morgan stated.

"Of course we can't! But Dan and Jason are close by! Send them to provide a status!" Chuck snapped in a pissed-off tone as the heat of the battle had now begun to take effect on him.

Morgan nodded, and he quickly carried out Chuck's instructions.

The following two minutes passed without further incident until a second large explosion occurred. The site that played host to this particular blast was close to the main gate, and the explosion quickly ripped through the air.

Staff Sergeant Jason White, one of the two Delta operators assigned to provide a sitrep from the operations center, came on air, "A second ANP just blew himself up at the main gate! Defenses are fucked! Taliban are already storming! We can't get to the op center, sorry, sir!"

A flush of anger suddenly overcame Chuck, and he punched his fist onto the floor of the roof.

"We need air support over here!" Sergeant First Class Scott Miller, a defender of the main gate, requested with urgency.

"If they're storming the gate, we can't get it to you! It's too close to the op center, and we have no status nor eyes on the location! If we call in a strafe, then we'll be handing a death sentence to anyone still alive in there! Have anyone still defending the main gate pull back as far as the aid station if necessary, which we'll use as the Alamo, and we'll try to launch a counterattack from there and retake the main gate to stop the fuckers from overrunning us!" Chuck instructed his unit.

x-x-x-x-x-x

A few minutes had passed, and there had still been no status report from the operation's center. As each minute had passed, the hopes of survival for the soldiers situated at that particular part of the COP started to fade. The Taliban were now inside the Combat Outpost, and they were engaging with the American and French soldiers as they attempted to overrun and massacre the defenders. Reports had also come in that a group of the insurgents had been spotted trying to make their way towards the operations center, which was no surprise, as it had taken a direct impact from a mortar round, in addition to a defector blowing himself up inside of it. It would be a miracle if any of the soldiers posted at that location survived, but the remaining defenders had no time to think about that.

From his position still on the rooftop of the district center, Chuck was deep in thoughts as he started to formulate a plan of action in his mind to retake the eastern section of the Combat Outpost, which included the main gate and the operations center. Due to the A-10's strafing run on the northern mountain, in addition to constant fire having been directed onto Taliban positions at the location, it was now relatively calm on the north side. Due to this, it meant that the rooftop of the district center, in addition to most of the western section of the base, was now relatively safe to be outside of cover for a more extended period.

However, the battle was far from over, as a fierce gun battle continued to wage towards the eastern section of the outpost, with heavy insurgent fire originating from the North-Eastern, the Eastern, and the South-Eastern mountains that encompassed the base. There was also a mountain to the South, but it was too steep to climb, so there had been no direct attacks onto the defenders from the South.

Chuck paused from his thoughts to take an overview of the outpost, and as he did so, he observed as a group of three Afghan national police walked casually from the western section of the base towards the Aid Station.

With the dastardly attack by an ANP defector just minutes ago still fresh in his mind, in addition to an identical incident at the main gate, Chuck began to pay close attention to the activities of the three individuals in question.

It also appeared that he was not alone in those thoughts. "Chuck?" Matthieu called out.

Glancing to his left, Chuck watched as his French counterpart pointed in the direction of the three individuals around twenty yards from their position.

Chuck nodded. "I see them."

Chuck and Matthieu continued to observe the three Afghan nationals for a short moment until Chuck saw as two of them began to cock their assault rifles before Chuck's visual contact became obstructed, and they disappeared from view.

But Chuck had already seen enough.

Glancing at Matthieu, Chuck spoke, "Merde! Pas sous ma garde! Mais on peut l'arrêter! Es-tu avec moi?" Shit! Not on my watch! But we can stop it! Are you with me?

The Frenchman nodded. "Oui! Je suis avec toi! Allons-y!" Yes! I am with you! Let's go!

Chuck quickly abandoned his position on the rooftop. In addition to Matthieu, Sergeant Will Jackson and a French soldier had overheard the conversation between the two officers and friends, and they decided to follow suit.

"Morgan, you have command!" Chuck shouted towards his best friend.

Morgan nodded as Chuck continued on and the small team of four quickly descended the staircase, and they promptly arrived at surface level. Wasting no time, they instantly headed for the exit, where two soldiers were stationed.

"Get out of the way!" Chuck barked towards the two soldiers, who immediately shifted their glance from out of the exit, and they turned to face the small group who had taken it upon themselves in a moment of bravery up and beyond the call of duty to stop the three Afghans from doing whatever they intended to do.

The two soldiers posted at the entrance quickly moved to stand clear, and Chuck, Matthieu, Sergeant Will Jackson, and the French soldier hastily departed from the district center. Now outside, they wasted no time as they sprinted in the direction that the three suspected turncoats had disappeared to, with Chuck spearheading the direct intervention.

Seconds started to tick away as Chuck and his makeshift team continued to sprint in the direction of the aid station and to avert this next phase of the attack. The small group quickly arrived at a shipping container, but they took no time to get their breath back from the sprint they had just made.

Turning the corner of the shipping container, the small team immediately made visual contact once more with the three Afghan policemen who had their weapons raised, and they were closing in fast on the aid station.

Chuck and his three comrades instantly picked up their pace as they continued to close the 50 yards between themselves and the Afghans.

A few seconds passed until the distance between Chuck's team and the Afghan's was 40 yards, while the distance between the Afghans and their arrival at the aid station was no more than 10 yards.

With mental strength and resolve that he did not think possible, Chuck increased his pace further while fighting fiercely for every breath of air he took. Matthieu, Will Jackson, and the French soldier matched Chuck's movement until the distance between Chuck and the Afghans was at 20 yards, while the Afghans had arrived dangerously close to the entrance of the aid station.

Due to a mixture of being physically incapable of running any further, in addition to having no time left to anyway—as the Afghans were now at their objective—Chuck halted his run, and Matthieu, Will Jackson, and the French soldier followed suit.

"ANP, DON'T YOU DO IT!" Chuck screamed out in the direction of the Afghans, and he lined up his rifle towards the group.

The three Afghan policemen instantly paused from walking, and they turned to face in the direction of Chuck. A look of panic quickly ensued between the three individuals when suddenly, they raised their weapons towards Chuck and his small group.

As soon as the first gun began to raise in his direction, Chuck did not hesitate, and he discharged off a burst from his assault rifle in a spraying pattern towards all three of the defector policemen.

Matthieu, Will Jackson, and the French soldier, too discharged their weapons at the defectors less than a second after Chuck had first opened fire. And in just a few short seconds, the battle was over, as the three policemen collapsed to the floor, and Chuck advanced to close the distance to the three hostiles.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"They all had explosive vests on," Sergeant Will Jackson declared, glancing around a small group of soldiers who had gathered just outside the aid station.

"Yeah," Chuck replied as he panted furiously from the extremely demanding physical endurance activity that had been required of him to avert the attack from happening.

"Qu'est-ce qu'on fait maintenant? What shall we do now? Matthieu asked.

"We need to retake the operations center and get some support into there. We're already two-thirds of the way there, so why the hell not? But first, I need to get my breath back," Chuck said as he continued to wheeze.

Matthieu nodded as the small team entered the aid station for a brief recovery.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck arrived in the vicinity of the operations center under heavy machine-gun fire with Matthieu, Will Jackson, and the French soldier.

The Coalition forces had already observed Taliban fighters entering the operations room a short while ago, and who knew just what they were doing in there?

With that development in mind, Chuck and his small team had instantly decided to assault and retake the operations center, at considerable risk to themselves.

They had now arrived close by as Chuck, and his team exchanged fire with multiple Taliban insurgents in their immediate vicinity in addition to taking fire from fixed Taliban positions in the mountains surrounding the COP.

In Chuck's sight as he advanced was a Taliban insurgent attempting to set up a PKM machine gun at a fixed position at one of the windows of the operations center. Chuck proceeded to line up the shot, and he discharged a burst at the insurgent, who instantly disappeared from view, and Chuck advanced on.

A few seconds later, Chuck and his small team arrived at the entrance to the operations center. Wasting no time due to the time-sensitive mission to secure the objective before atrocities occurred, in addition to taking continued fire where they stood, Chuck prepared a flashbang, and he lobbed it into the building. The instant his stun grenade exploded, he was inside the building like thunder. Chuck had never been more driven throughout his military career to assault a building than at that moment because he knew that his comrades in captive by the insurgents had no positive outcome the longer it went on.

Now inside the operations center, Chuck engaged multiple insurgent fighters disorientated by the stun grenade as the team of four swept through the operations center and returned it to their control.

x-x-x-x-x-x

The operations center had now been secured. The interior of the building had been ripped to shreds by the mortar fire and from the subsequent detonating of explosives by the suicide bomber.

There were fatalities throughout the whole objective, in addition to many casualties. Not a single soldier who had been inside the operations center at the time of the suicide bombing had avoided injury from the blast.

Chuck's commanding officer, and great friend, Major Moore, was one of those wounded. Chuck had no time to check on the injuries of his CO, nor would he have been able to even if he had the time because he was not a medic.

Chuck's only priority was to secure further reinforcements at his location because a small team of four would not be able to hold out for very long without immediate additional support.

"Guys, I've retaken the op center. There are multiple casualties here. We can save them if we can get additional support into here now!" Chuck stated into comms as he trained his rifle towards the entrance of the building in preparation to neutralize the first hostile that entered.

"Copy that, sir. I've Jason and Dan with me. I think we can get to you, but we're going to need a shit load of cover," Sergeant First Class Scott Miller stated.

"I'll reposition everyone to the eastern side of the rooftop in the DC, and we'll unleash massive suppressive fire towards their positions to provide you with enough cover," Morgan said.

"Sounds good. We'll also lay down some fire from this end until you get to us. So how about it?" Chuck asked.

"Let's do it, sir," the medic leading the reinforcements said.

"Give me twenty seconds, and once the volley starts, make your move," Morgan declared.

"Matthieu, nous avons des renforts qui se déplacent vers nous. Nous devons les couvrir de notre côté pendant qu'ils se déplacent!" Matthieu, we have reinforcements moving towards us. We have to cover them from our side as they move!

Matthieu nodded before he instructed his soldier, "Pierre, des alliés en route. Disposez le feu suppressif!" Pierre, allies on the way. Lay down suppressive fire!

Right on cue, after the twenty seconds had passed, a massive volley of fire was discharged from the rooftop of the district center towards insurgent positions. Meanwhile, Chuck, Matthieu, Will Jackson, and Pierre also departed the operations center and immediately started to fire towards the enemy.

Occasionally, Chuck glanced towards his three soldiers rapidly making their way towards him. On their arrival, the seven soldiers quickly entered the building once more, and the volume of gunfire from the rooftop of the district center quickly decreased to targeted bursts instead of maximum firepower.

"Let's hunker down and fortify this location from any further threat!" Chuck commanded.

The team of seven nodded as they set about their tasks, and Sergeant First Class Scott Miller started to triage the soldiers in search of those most in need of care.

x-x-x-x-x-x

The fierce battle for control of Combat Outpost McNeil was finally coming to a conclusion. It had been one hour since Chuck and his small team had regained control of the operations center, and in the meantime, two Apache gunships had arrived to support the Coalition forces in battle. The two gunships had repeatedly engaged Taliban positions in close cooperation with the soldiers inside the district center. And shortly after, it had now become clear that the arrival of such overwhelming firepower had caused the Taliban to have had enough for one night, as the volume of gunfire in and around the COP started to wind down.

Not content to let the enemy have the final say; however, Chuck prepared a response. "Guys, we're going out after them. Resupply, rehydrate yourselves as much as you can, and we'll go out hunting in thirty mikes."

"Copy that, Chuck," Morgan replied as the elite Special Forces unit immediately began to prepare themselves for what had just been ordered.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and fifteen other operators from Delta Force were now a few miles from Combat Outpost McNeil on a hunting patrol in search of the insurgents who had attacked the base a short while ago.

Chuck glanced up at the sky as the night sky slowly but surely turned to daylight as the sun started to come up. Chuck and the fifteen other soldiers out with him were all very tired, but they would not quit until the mission was completed; such was what made the men who the men were.

The physical endurance necessary to be a Special Forces soldier was exhausting enough, but that was the easy part. To be a Special Forces soldier and even pass the grueling training, to begin with, required such extreme mental resilience that could not be compared to anything else in life. Chuck, the fifteen operators patrolling with him, and the four unable to join the hunt due to injuries sustained during the battle were employed in the most difficult, dangerous, and most stressful job possible. Yet, they did not quit nor complain, as the patrol silently made its way towards a small village.

Arriving at the village a few minutes later, the operators went door to door throughout the area searching for insurgents. They all knew, of course, that catching anybody here was likely to be a forlorn hope, but they still attempted to do so regardless.

Exiting a house he had just searched, Chuck continued up an alleyway in close formation with two operators for a few moments until the lead soldier screamed out, "IED!" and the whole world blacked into darkness.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Present Day

2008

Washington D.C.

Two days since the upload

Chuck jolted awake in the bed he lay in with his new partner, Sarah. Immediately turning away from his side, he rested on the bed as he faced up at the ceiling of the room. His body was sweating profusely, and he was now gasping for air caused by the intensive dream which had finished as a nightmare for the young soldier.

Chuck had been serving in the military for six years, and he hadn't usually experienced nightmares except for the occasional one early into his career, so for him to have experienced one now had unsettled him a little.

Fighting to compose himself from the nightmare, Chuck detected movement to his left, where Sarah was sleeping.

He turned himself to look at her, and she gazed at him.

"Are you ok?" Sarah asked softly.

Chuck nodded. "I'm fine. I need to shower," he declared as he turned away from Sarah and he climbed out of bed before he promptly departed for the bathroom.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was seated at a breakfast table at the restaurant of the hotel she was staying at with Chuck. Because of how Sarah had been disturbed awake by Chuck this morning, they had plenty of time to kill before continued Intersect testing was to resume, so Sarah had suggested a change of scenery to Chuck and for them to have breakfast down here, rather than eating in their shared room.

Chuck quickly arrived at the restaurant, and he moved to sit opposite her at the table.

Glancing at her new partner, Sarah could tell something was troubling him and that he'd been unable to shake off whatever it was when he had gone off to shower just earlier. Unsure of whether it was wise because he had already dismissed her question just earlier, she decided to make another attempt at inquiring on his condition.

"Chuck, are you sure you're ok? I know I asked you earlier, but you can talk to me. It might help?" she suggested.

Chuck nodded. "Sarah, it was just a nightmare. I'm fine, really, and I would prefer not to talk about it, ok?"

Sarah nodded in acceptance. If Chuck didn't want to talk to her about whatever was troubling him, that was fine by her. They were almost complete strangers save from a few awkward encounters at school after all, and she was sure that her new partner had the resilience necessary to cope with whatever was troubling him. He wouldn't be seated opposite her right now if that were not the case.

The partners proceeded to order pastries and some freshly squeezed orange juice. Soon after they had completed their order, as expected, Chuck had quickly restored his composure, and he returned to the level of functioning that Sarah had witnessed from him since she had encountered him at the CIA headquarters, and they consumed their breakfast together.

"This place sure is heaven compared to some of the places I've been situated at over the years, Sarah."

Sarah paused from feasting, and she gazed at Chuck who was grinning at her. She returned his warm gaze, and said, "I'm sure."

"What about you? I'm sure this is normal for you, most of the time?"

Sarah took a moment to ponder his question. "Uh, the location is not important to me, Chuck. It's the work that I do that matters."

Chuck nodded. "Well, I'm really looking forward to working with you, Sarah, and Casey."

"Chuck, Casey is dangerous. You need to be careful around him," Sarah warned, gazing into his eyes.

"Sarah, Casey has served this country with distinction. I may be a soldier, but I know of the rivalry between the CIA, and the NSA, but I refuse to take sides. I stand by what I said, and I'm eager to work with the both of you."

Sarah blinked at Chuck's comment, and she began to ponder how to respond to it. After a brief moment, she said, "Well, I still think you should be very wary of him, Chuck. As your partner now, that's my advice."

Chuck instantly replied, "Look, Sarah, as I told you, I'm not taking sides. However, I will take what you have said into consideration, and I'll bear it in mind. That's the only compromise that I'll make here."

Ascertaining that Chuck was steadfast in his stance, and that he would not sway to her way of thinking on the topic, Sarah nodded, before she took a sip of her orange juice.

Placing her orange juice back onto the table, Sarah began to gaze at Chuck once more, and he returned the glance.

"Sarah, by the way, you look out of this world today. If beauty could kill, then I'd be dead right now," Chuck suddenly declared somewhat flirtatiously, and he grinned at her.

Sarah immediately broke eye contact with Chuck, and her gaze shifted down to the jacket of her suit, and she began to pick away at it. She had selected a matching black jacket and skirt suit combination as her attire for today out of her wardrobe. What Sarah was wearing, she considered it to be one of her most formal yet straightforward attires that she possessed. So to receive a compliment on how she looked, when it was the last thing she was expecting to hear, had embarrassed and threw her off course slightly.

A few seconds passed before Sarah stopped fidgeting at herself, and she glanced back at Chuck. Looking into his eyes, she said, "I don't think that was appropriate. We have to work together."

Chuck nodded. "Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it. I'll be honest with you: I don't know how to behave right now. I've never had to work shoulder to shoulder on the same missions with a woman before. I've worked with support staff, but being out in the field in the middle of a stinking hot desert in Afghanistan or inside a military base while on active duty is a heck of a lot different to being seated here at a restaurant table inside a five-star hotel with somebody extremely attractive sitting opposite me."

Sarah continued to gaze at him. "Chuck, from my experience of working in this line of work, we need to stay professional. Attempting to mix personal and professional relationships becomes complicated..."

Chuck nodded a few times in succession. "I'll take your word for it."

The conversation instantly died down, and Sarah and Chuck instantly became awkward in each other's company as they continued on with their breakfast until it was time for them to depart and carry out their day.

Due to his flirtatious compliment towards her just earlier, Sarah now found it hard to look at him again, and she knew he felt the same way toward her.

Luckily for Sarah, Chuck broke the awkward situation between them both. "Sarah, we should probably leave, or we'll be late," he suggested.

Sarah nodded, and the partners promptly departed to carry out their day...

x-x-x-x-x-x

Later that day

Chuck had just finished another day of Intersect testing as the CIA and NSA analysts continued to test the performance of the Intersect. Like the previous days, Chuck was still very tired, and he predicted that would remain the case for the whole week. Today, however, Chuck was more depleted than usual because of how he had woken much earlier in the day.

By the time he had joined Sarah at the restaurant, he had quickly been able to shake off most of the events from his dream, but a part of it had still been running through his mind for most of the day. Deciding he wanted to speak to somebody about it, Chuck took out his phone, and he proceeded to dial the number of his best friend Morgan from where he stood in one of the hallways at the location of the Intersect facility.

It took a few rings before Morgan answered the call.

"Hey Chuck," Morgan greeted his friend.

Chuck immediately emitted a wide grin, the sound of his best friend being the cause of his happy thoughts.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" Chuck asked.

"Just fine, Chuck. I'm just getting on with the thing known as life. Heh," Morgan declared.

Chuck suppressed a laugh. Even if Chuck and Morgan wanted to speak openly with each other right now, they couldn't. Being on an unsecured line, the possibility was there for anybody who knew how to tap into telecommunications to be listening in. They'd sure had enough operational security briefings over the years for it to be echoed into both of the elite soldier's minds every time they entered an unsecured line, that's for sure...

"I'm glad you're doing fine, buddy. I hope our friends are all doing good. I miss you all," Chuck said.

Morgan chuckled. "Well, you started a new life, Chuck. We're fine where we are, but you have to do what you have to do."

Chuck sighed for a short moment, as he was missing and yearning to be around every one of his comrades once more. "Yeahhhh…"

"So, how are you doing, Chuck?"

Chuck took a moment to consider his best friend's question. "I've been busy," he laughed eventually.

Morgan chuckled again.

"Actually, I woke up to a nightmare this morning also," Chuck then declared.

"Oh?" Morgan asked. "You don't usually complain of nightmares, Chuck. We've spoken a lot of times about that same subject, so I should know, heh."

"That's just it, Morgan. I don't usually experience them, which is why this one threw me off a little, especially considering which one it was," he declared.

"Which one was it, Chuck?" Morgan asked.

"COP McNeil," Chuck retorted.

Morgan instantly winced.

"Wow, Chuck, that was some wake-up call on that day!"

"You're telling me!" Chuck instantly shot back, which caused the best friends to laugh together.

"Man, they gave us a real fight that day. You were awesome that day, Chuck."

Chuck shook his head, unwilling to receive the sole praise. "Morgan, we are all awesome that day, every last one of us. We showed them what Rangers can do," he declared with a grin.

"Damn right we did, Chuck. In the months that followed, not a single further attack was attempted, heh."

Chuck's grin sunk into a sad smile. "Yeah, but it came at a cost. We lost eleven great men and women that day."

"But you saved many more, Chuck. If you hadn't have averted what was going to happen at the aid station, and if you hadn't had retook the op center under massive enemy fire, then many dozens more would have died. There's no way that you won't end up with a medal for what you did that day, Chuck. And if I were forced to guess, then I would say it will be the biggest one."

"Morgan, I don't want a medal. I don't want to be singled out for praise; I never have. You know this," Chuck said before he began to sigh as he ran a hand from his head down to his chin.

"I know you don't, Chuck. Man, every one of us would prefer to remain in the shadows, but sometimes heroism has to be singled out, and yours on that day was above and beyond the call of duty, same for Will, Matthieu, and Pierre."

"I wonder how they're both doing since we last heard from them?" Chuck asked.

"That's a good question, Chuck. Matthieu is a great guy for a Frenchman," Morgan chuckled.

Chuck suppressed a laugh. "Yeah, he is. Man, his help made me fluent in French."

"Yeah, and yours made him fluent in English! Personally, I was happy to just rest and relax in my downtime, but that's what singles you out from the rest of us, Chuck. Even in the hellholes that we found ourselves in, you always furthered yourself. Every one of us saw that, and it's why not a moment won't go by where you won't be missed here," Morgan declared.

A loving smile formed on Chuck's face. "I miss you guys, man."

"And we miss you, Chuck. But back to your nightmare, have you done anything recently that could have triggered it?" Morgan inquired.

"Nope, boring activities all round," Chuck quickly declared. It was a lie of course, because he couldn't reveal classified information.

Morgan chuckled. "So I'm not missing out on anything then?"

"No, it's probably me that's missing it," Chuck said.

"Actually, it's rather quiet here too."

"That's good to hear," Chuck declared, grinning.

"But remember your promise to me just before you left, Chuck," Morgan said.

Chuck took the briefest of moments to think about what Morgan was referencing, but then he caught on, and he smirked. Morgan was undoubtedly referring to the request for the best combat missions that Chuck may need a full team to go to Delta.

"Morgan, I stand by what I said. But I should probably go now. I'm tired after a busy day," he declared.

"Ok, Chuck, I should probably go too. Don't be a stranger. Remember to check in from time to time, yeah?"

"Of course. And the same to you. I love you, man."

"I love you too, Chuck," Morgan declared.

"Bye, buddy," Chuck said.

"Bye," Morgan replied, and with that, Chuck disconnected the call.

Just hearing the voice of his best friend was enough to make Chuck feel relaxed after a long day of Intersect tests. Deciding he wanted to retire for the evening, Chuck departed to search out Sarah and Casey.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah entered inside their shared hotel room. After Chuck's earlier comment to Sarah at breakfast, the two partners had been extremely uncomfortable around each other. As soon as Chuck had come out with the compliment, he regretted it. Sarah was entirely correct that it was extremely complicated and arguably very dangerous for any kind of intimate feelings to develop towards each other while they worked together.

Chuck would be a liar if he said he wasn't attracted to his new partner. You would have to be missing a gazillion brain cells and then some if you were not!

Still, it didn't mean that Chuck had to act on that attraction towards her, nor did he intend to do so, even though it now appeared that's what was probably going through Sarah's mind, as she'd barely been able to look at him again throughout the rest of the day.

Glancing awkwardly at Chuck, Sarah said, "I'll use the bathroom first."

Chuck nodded as Sarah promptly departed for the bathroom, and sighing to himself due to the alarming state of awkwardness now present between the partners, he moved to lay on the bed before he ordered whatever was on the menu for room service. He then spent the next few minutes watching television until Sarah departed the bathroom wearing a tee shirt and pajama pants. The previous nights that they had slept together so far, she had worn nighties, so Sarah had deliberately changed her appearance this evening, and the truth was that it changed nothing. No matter how simple she looked, Chuck still found his new partner breathtaking, but as he had told Morgan, he hadn't taken this assignment for romance, but that didn't mean he could block out how awkward the mood was between the both of them right now neither.

Room service shortly after arrived, and even that didn't help in any way to ease the awkward feeling lingering throughout the room that the two partners were forced into sharing together.

Chuck and Sarah ate their food in silence and barely looked at each other throughout.

Once they had finished their food, Chuck went to shower, and he took a relatively cool one in the hope of forming an idea on how to break the ice that he had now placed between his partner and himself, but he was unsuccessful.

Departing the shower, he changed into a pair of shorts which he'd chosen to sleep in. However, due to the awkwardness between himself and Sarah, and in addition to how tired he was feeling, he'd forgotten to collect a shirt when he had headed to shower some minutes ago.

Sighing to himself, knowing that this wouldn't help matters for him to depart the room without a shirt in comparison to Sarah, who had purposely gone out of her way to cover herself up, Chuck had no choice but to depart the room—although he'd much rather stay locked up in the bathroom for the rest of the night.

Leaving the bathroom as he continued to dry his hair with a towel, he glanced over to Sarah with an apologetic grimace. Knowing his mistake would undoubtedly not help ease the awkwardness between them both.

Sarah instantly gazed up at him from her side of the bed before her gaze for a brief moment lingered towards his torso, and Chuck observed as she started to shake her head, and she became slightly agitated.

Seeing the agitation from Sarah because he was without a shirt caused Chuck to quickly pick up an evening shirt. He dressed into it as fast as he possibly could, before he reluctantly—because he'd rather be in the hellholes of Iraq or Afghanistan being shot at than face this awkwardness right now, and he sensed Sarah felt the exact same—climbed into the bed covers on his side of the bed.

Sarah and Chuck paused in total silence for the next few minutes, save from the occasional sigh and sideward glance at each other.

Eventually, Chuck couldn't take the tension between the two of them anymore, and he started to speak, "Sarah, about earlier,"

Sarah quickly interrupted him before he could continue, "Chuck, it's awkward enough already between us right now. Can we not have this conversation right now?"

Now glancing right into her eyes, as she gazed back at him, he nodded before he instantly turned away from Sarah to sleep on his side, and Sarah did the same.

"Good night," Chuck said after a few moments.

"Good night," Sarah replied.


End of Chapter


AN3 Well then... My first fanfiction chapter in more than a year! How did I do? Please leave a review and let me know :)

AN4 The battle that took place this chapter will play a big part in future story events.

AN5 The next chapter will contain the final testing and evaluation period of the Intersect, and you can expect more Chuck/Graham fireworks, some Chuck/Casey bonding, and a clearing of the air between Chuck and Sarah! See you in a few days!